Career Services Internship Opportunities

Spring and Summer NRP Undergraduate Internship

Description: INTERNSHIP OVERVIEW
The Spring Internship is typically part-time with weekly hours that are negotiable, requires a commitment for the semester, and has a preferred start date of January 20, 2015.
The Summer Internship can be full-time or part-time and typically requires a 10 week commitment with a preferred start date of June 1, 2015 .
Interns will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience by working alongside the National Prison Project team. They will also learn about creating change through class action litigation and about building and supporting strategic legislative and advocacy campaigns. Work may include the following:
• The production and distribution of advocacy materials.
• Conducting factual research and writing regarding criminal justice policy and legislative movement.
• Gathering current information related to prison and jail conditions.
• Documenting and tracking complaints received from prisoners and responding with informational materials.
• Providing campaign and litigation support to supervising attorneys.
• Other projects as assigned.

Salary

Unpaid

Type of Opportunity

Internship

Location

Washington, DC

Degree Wanted

Field of Study

Any, Criminal Justice, Liberal Arts & Sciences

Special Skills & Requirements

DESIRED EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
This Internship is open to students who have completed their first year of college, and who are enrolled in a relevant undergraduate program. Applicants must possess:
• A strong interest in criminal justice and a commitment to civil rights.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to work independently.
• Excellent research, writing and communication skills.
• Strong computer skills, particularly web-based research including proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access).

Founded in 1972 by the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Prison Project (NPP) seeks to ensure constitutional conditions of confinement in prisons, jails, juvenile facilities, and immigration detention facilities. The Project seeks to promote prisoners’ rights through class action litigation and public education. Its priorities include reducing prison overcrowding, improving prisoner medical care, eliminating violence and maltreatment, and increasing oversight and accountability in prisons, jails, and other places of detention.
The Project also works to challenge the policies of over-incarceration that have led the United States to imprison more people than any other country in the world. This is an opportune moment to reform those policies. There is a growing consensus among criminal justice experts and policymakers that America’s criminal justice system has relied too heavily on incarceration as the first and often only response for non-violent behavior that could better be addressed through other means. The population in American prisons and jails has tripled in the past 15 years and now approaches two and a half million. Facilities are overcrowded; medical systems are overwhelmed; work, education, and treatment programs are inadequate; and prison violence has increased. This failed experiment does not make us safer, it is not affordable, and it exacerbates the racial disparities that have long plagued the criminal justice system.
The Project, with a staff of seven lawyers, has fought and continues to fight unlawful prison conditions and practices through successful litigation on behalf of prisoners in more than 25 states. Since 1991, the Project has represented prisoners in five cases before the United States Supreme Court. The ACLU is the only organization litigating prison conditions of confinement nationwide on behalf of men, women, and children.
Please send a cover letter describing your interest in prison reform and civil liberties, including any relevant life or work experience; a short writing sample; and a resume to hrjobsNPP@aclu.org. Reference [Spring 2015 Undergraduate Internship – NPP/QCC, or Summer 2015 Undergraduate Internship, NPP/QCC] in the subject line depending upon your preference. If applying for a part-time internship, please specify in your application your preferred weekly schedule.
Alternatively, applications can be mailed to:
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation
RE: Spring 2015 Undergraduate Internship – NPP/QCC
Summer 2015 Undergraduate Internship – NPP/QCC
915 15th Street, NW - 6th Floor
Washington DC, 20005
Please indicate in your cover letter where you learned of this internship opportunity.